


the thin line between enemies and lovers

by chanqqmin



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Costume Parties & Masquerades, M/M, Strangers to Enemies to Lovers, Strangers to Lovers, to be more precise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28234200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanqqmin/pseuds/chanqqmin
Summary: "A pretty face like you don't seem like someone who would be here," Sunwoo whispered underneath his breath but close to the pink-haired other's ear, nibbling slightly at the latter's earlobe whilst alternating between licking it all wet and then using his front teeth to teasingly chew at it softly."How do you know I have a pretty face? I have a mask on," the smaller boy replied, letting out a whine when Sunwoo blew into his ear and leaned away to cup the boy's face. Even with a mask that covered the upper portion of the face, including the eyes and nose and forehead, there was no doubt that a pretty face would be behind it.His hands slid down to the boy's waist as he leaned in once again to the point where their clothes noses were touching and lips inched apart. Sunwoo spoke, "Lips as pretty as these and a body that seems so desirable like your's is an automatic signal as to a pretty face, and I'm sure you know it yourself." From just the corner of his eye, a small smile was playing on the pink-haired's lips."Whatever you say."
Relationships: Choi Chanhee | New/Kim Sunwoo
Kudos: 16





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **prologue! story centered around tbz members though

_It was in the middle of nowhere; a small cottage isolated within the jungles at an unknown place that mankind never took interest in. Outside was thick fog that covered that covered any line of visibility further than two metres._

_In the small house was a group of men around a table that seemed to fit all of them; one of them pulled out a small box covered with soft, velvet pelt and lined with pure gold at the edges. It seemed to contain something rather precious considering the pricey._

_"W_ _hat is this?" a tall man asked; in his hands were a unfamiliar crystal that shined in ways that were rather blinding to the eye. He moved it between his fingers to observe the item. "Looks rather expensive."_

_"It is," another man responded back; he was seating at the very end of the table, resting with his arms on the armchairs and back slightly slid down. With legs crossed, he changed his position so that one of his hands would be propping his face. He started to speak, "as expected of Wonwoo. Sneaky and cunning with high intellect and is also fast—no wonder he's the best in our team, don't you think?"_

_"I won't say anything to that," the tall man responded; in the corner of the house by the window, another man perked up at the sound of his name. In his hands was simply a thick book and his hands were covered with a thick fingerless glove—it was to be noted that the way he held the book was rather gentle and fragile. The rounded glasses on the man's face slid down as he processed the words being spoken, and with a small red tint on his cheeks, he shook his head._

_"Soonyoung-ssi, please don't say things like that," the man—Wonwoo—mumbled, biting his lips in a nervous manner before the person who complimented him laughed._

_"You deserve it—unlike Mingyu here still fails to do anything useless without creating havoc," Soonyoung grumbled, gritting his teeth before changing his expressions drastically to a tired one and rolling his eyes. The tall man—now referred as_ Mingyu _—narrowed his eyes, still gripping on the gem in his hand._

 _Clicking his tongue, he put the gem back into its case before shoving his hands into his suit pocket and mumbling under his breath. A smirk came up Soonyoung's lips quickly as he spoke up, "Mingyu-_ ssi _, care to share what you said?" Emphasizing on the 'ssi' in a mocking manner, Soonyoung called out to Mingyu who froze on the spot, spinning his head to glare at the other._

_"None of your business," Mingyu hissed back before leaving the cottage and shutting the door with a loud slam. As soon as Mingyu went out, the sound of fluttering wings was loud, followed by a plethora of bird chirps._

_Soonyoung's eyebrow raised up, staring at the door that the taller had just exited out of before darting his gaze back to the other men, who hadn't spoke up yet, around the table. "Animal whisperers—gosh. He's a problematic one, isn't he?" Soonyoung complained with a sigh following afterwards._

_Another one, who hasn't said any words ever since the gem was showcased infront of everyone, at the table spoke up, "I think he's trying his best though." Soonyoung lifted an eyebrow in amusement and surprise, cocking his head a slightly to show curiosity._

_"Why so?" Soonyoung inquired, using his idle hand, that's not supporting his face, tap absentmindedly on the armchair at a random rhythm._

_There was a pause and then an answer. "I think when he tries his best, he shows it by clumsiness because that's showing that he really is trying his absolute best to do what he'd doing to the point that it blinds him from everything that happens outside of his target, which does enable for several accident and misintentional mistakes to happen," the man explained out in a stern voice, not wavering._

_"You're an observant one, aren't you Minghao? When I saw the name 'Seo Myungho: The8', I didn't realise you're going to be this good," Soonyoung admitted, smiling again as the man, who had just spoken, bowed his head as a thanks. Just as a few seconds passed, another sigh escaped out of Soonyoung's lips._

_"Seungcheol-hyung isn't happy with what we've been doing the last few weeks. 'Slacking', is what he described us. 'Not enough action happening' he says," Soonyoung whined, pouting his lips before throwing his head back. He spoke up again but now in a more complaining, baby-like tone, "and the thing is he doesn't say what he wants either. Just 'why is your team not doing anything'? At this point, he just looks at us then the first team and goes like 'yeah, the second team is lacking'! Not our fault the first team is has fucking supergenius Woozi who apparently has the iq of two hundred and some superpower of insane electric manipulation–how are we supposed to beat that?" Soonyoung kicked the floor with the heel of his combat boots, before limping his entire body against the chair._

_"Then try better?" the youngest of the group spoke up as Soonyoung sprang back to a straight-back posture and his hands gripping at the armrest of the chair._

_"Chan! That's not helping," Soonyoung snapped back, crossing his arms before sighing for the nth time. "Let's try do something that'd please Seungcheol-hyung," he quickly suggested before quickly turning to Wonwoo and speaking in a fast speed, "have you heard from Seokmin?" Wonwoo hesitated for a second before pulling out his phone and checking as the screen lit up before shaking his head but then paused before, contrasting to his last action, nodded his head hastily._

_"Kim and Choi clan are holding an event," Wonwoo mentioned, reading off his screen; Soonyoung's eyes lit up before smiling with a big grin._

_"Great! Let's start planning."_


	2. Chapter 2

The meeting room was enveloped with a silent atmosphere but yet with no words, emotions travelled quickly around as the clan leader—Sunwoo's father—, who sat at the head of the table, announced the plan. Sunwoo felt his throat dry up at the sudden scrunch of expression from Sangyeon, who sat at the very opposite of his dad's seat on the other head of the table—the farthest from the exit of the room. This isn't going to end well. 

"A party? Are you sure about this?" Sangyeon asked from the opposite end of the table he was at, standing up and slamming his hands down whilst creating a loud noise that echoed throughout the entire hall. Sunwoo sat on the side of the table, rather than on the sides. He watched as his father put his lips in a thin line before nodding.

"It's to bring the Choi clan and Kim clan together. You of all people should know how clans that both don't like eachother act like." Despite the serious topic that is making several other high-ranking members uncomfortable and infuriated, Sunwoo's father's tone was peaceful and steady without a hint of frustration, not wavering even in the slightest. Sunwoo had respected that trait of his dad.

He flicked his eyes over to Sangyeon, who tsk'ed and sat down again with furrowed eyebrows, glared back at his dad; his arms were folded but not in a way that signified calm and collected behavior but in a way that Sangyeon was frustrated with his finger tapping on his arm in a fast rhythmic beat.

"The Choi clans were the same one who had murdered and slaughtered several of our own. Why do we need to go suck up at their ass right now? That's going to make us look weak and that's not the ideal situation; we could barge into their headquarters right now with our own troops and take them down swiftly in a blink of an eye then assert our dominance as the superior clan—easy," Sangyeon argued back as Sunwoo's dad shook his head in disagreement again, along with a tired sigh. Even Sunwoo, who is still a minor part of the clan and still learning aboht it, knew that Sangyeon's plan was far from reality—rather it was pure dellusional. 

"You're thinking too violently, Sangyeon-ssi. I understand you're in charge of our people and our offensive side but you know that yourself you are being dellusional. If you were to do that in the slightest and quote-unquote _'barge'_ into their building, instead of us cleaning and slaughtering them with their blood littering on the floor and walls, it would be them who would be killing us. They have more superior and talented people with them; we can't beat them with our people. And to add, won't it be better if we were to be allies? They clearly are one of the top clans in Korea and it won't hurt to be with them," another fair point was made by Sunwoo's dad. Sunwoo could almost see Sangyeon's eyes light up into flames with anger pouring out of the other's body; whilst Sunwoo had admired Sangyeon's skills of organising people to how their own powers could work out in midst of a battle and is able to use their—the Kim clan's—assets to use to the fullest ability when fighting at other clans in Korea, Sangyeon's belief of not backing down from fighting till they either get a win or a lose is something that Sunwoo sometimes frowned upon. The older's way of thinking is vicious in a way that could lead to several deaths even if planned so carefully; Sangyeon was never satisfied if not given a direct answer with physical proofs of who was more dominant in combat power, and in situations like these where it was only hypothetically proven, Sangyeon was beyond mad.

"Well whose fault was it then not to train our people more carefully and viciously than this? If we were to train our people who are far capable of training their superpowers, their limit and capacity would've been further stretched and we would've have a stronger combat power. It's all your fault for wanting only your _quote-unquote_ peace without any violence; this is a world where only using our powers could bring your so-called peace. Peace in here cannot come without violence and you're too blind to see that!" Sangyeon's outrage was loud enough to drawn any other nearby sounds to silence. Even the birds outside, who were happily chirping with content, had flapped away at the sound. Sunwoo clenched his jaw—Sangyeon was crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed over. How dare someone be so loud about being against the clan leader's, out of all people, belief?

"Sangyeon. I recommend you calm down. I understand your reasoning behind this but trust me in this one that this reason is the most suitable in this case. You may be one of our higher-rankings but I am still the highest authority as the clan leader; you may not agree with my thinking and beliefs, which I do not hereby you to follow strictly in any way, but to question my own decisions for this clan and what I believe is the best outcome is crossing the line. You may believe in violence is the answer but in my own eyes, I do not. Having a party—even if sounds so childish to your own ears—with the Choi clan will put us in friendly terms with them, and perhaps even in alliance if we manage to win over them. If you don't agree with this, then you can just not attend the party—there is not a must to attend. You can stay here and guard the headquarters while the rest of the higher-ranking officials can go." Nods from all over the table can be seen as Sunwoo felt himself tensen down. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Sangyeon gritting his teeth in anger at the response.

"But–!"

"No but's, I'll be leaving now," Sunwoo's father responded in the same tone he had carried throughout the short meeting that had just been declared as finished. Sunwoo got himself up from the chair, which was at the left of his father's on the horizontal side of the table instead of the head of the table where his father sat, before trailing his dad behind.

His father—or rather, the clan leader—was a respectable man that Sunwoo looked up to. With calm yet collected personality that seemed to automatically put ease to everyone near, Sunwoo's father was smart in the concept of strategically, being able to find out solutions to problems without having an ounce of violence or pint of blood shed. From what his mother had told him several years back before she had passed away due to an assassination done to weaken the clan, his father had got inherited the clan from his father's grandfather—Sunwoo's great-grandfather—, who was someone who had appreciated the bloodshed and violence that the Kim clan had caused on the daily basis. However, Sunwoo's dad wasn't someone who had liked that way of thinking and as immediately as he was crowned the clan leader, he had established a rule of keeping violence at the minimum. Even if it were to weaken the Kim clan's reputation to other clans, Sunwoo had believed in the same thinking too.

Sunwoo's thinking was cut short by his dad speaking to him, "You have school tomorrow don't you?" Sunwoo thought for a second before nodding; tomorrow was Monday and had marked the start of a new school year. He'd have to go get the new updated uniforms for his sophomore year at his highschool to keep up with his school's rules and regulations that had made every year in highschool have a different uniform.

"Dye your hair back to black," his father mentioned, ruffling Sunwoo's red hair with his hand gently and as if reading Sunwoo's mind, his father also added, "and then after that I'll get Jaehyun-ssi to drive you to the school to get that new school uniform for tomorrow."

"Alright."

🥀

Black haired looked almost unfamiliar on Sunwoo; his fiery shade of red that used to claim his hair was now gone and replaced with the void-like, dark colour. Sunwoo lifted his hand to comb through his hair; before, the red would somehow compliment his tan skin in a way that he had liked but now, with his hand in his black hair, the dark tone had looked foreign and strangely enough weird against his skin-colour. Sunwoo had figured it'd look normal again after a few days of readjusting, afterall he had grew up with this colour as his hair for the last sixteen years yet only had red hair for the last two months of when school had closed and only when he had went out to represent his clan; surely black hair wouldn't take that long to get used to.

Sunwoo thought again about the 'party' with the Choi clan that is being held within this weekend; to his father's surprise, there wasn't any delay or hesitance of acceptance when the invitation for the event was sent to the other side to be accepted and approved. And if Sunwoo have to think further into the future, he'll have to yet again dye his hair back to red on the day before the event surely. 

Even if it was just a change of colour in hair, it was more of a 'safe than sorry' situation. 

In a world where people else not in your clan knowing where you originate, having your _public_ identity revealed during meetings between other strangers from clans that aren't familiarised with can be rather annoying in ways that Sunwoo found more like a bother than anything.

There was a fine line between your identity in public and then the other when engaging with the other clans; the public identity is used when out in the public. Rather it be in the shopping mall getting clothings and food or in the marketplaces by the streets, wandering around to get fruits and cheap neccesities, or attending school or going to the hospital for a checkup—that is when one uses their 'public identity'; like how Sunwoo's public identity works too. Public identities are based off one's given name at birth—the government-assigned name; the name given at birth from one's parents.

If Sunwoo were to go in public, he'd introduce himself with his just name—Sunwoo; however with no last name to follow behind. Last names are typically probably more hidden than first names—afterall, there might be several people with the same name as his name Sunwoo and no one would bat an eyelash if someone had accidentally said in a gathering with other clans (though advised not to) but bringing up last names could originate a hassle; last names are to note and signify where one's from, specifically what clan one is from. For example, Sunwoo's 'full name' would be Kim Sunwoo; he had originated and been living alongside the Kim clan since forever and hence his last name being _Kim_. 

They'd be cases where people are transfered from clans to clans; their last name would be to what clan they are residing in instead of their former; and even if people tried to lie about their last names, the government still had a database of all the citizens in Korea and their history of transactions between each clan (which does make people seem almost like objects as they are transfered from clan to clan but, really, that's the reality of this). 

The general importance of keeping one's last name a secret from any strangers, whom one may not know or recognise, is to prevent ruckus on the streets; some clans don't have the best reputations with each other, and to prevent a breakout between a member of different clans, who might not be on friendly status, is to simply shut and zip one's mouth and not mention the last name. 

What even made the difference of one's public identity and clan identity are how well-kept they are supposed to be; there must be vast differences between each persona to prevent both identities clashing into eachother and people from one's clan identity knowing the person's public identity; and this introduces on Sunwoo's love for his red hair. 

His persona when representing his clan has blinding red hair, which perfectly fits his clan name—' _Sun_ '. By just cutting off the last part of his name and only leaving with Sun; even if it sounds awfully obvious on what the name can imply to Sunwoo's public identity, though perhaps a stranger possibly would think that _Sun_ was only simply some madeup name because the person behind it perhaps enjoy astrology (entirely possible and valid excuse; his clanmate in the past had named themselves over what they had liked). Thinking back, his clan name was really made on a whim when he was five and he was asked by his father to come up with a clan-name to represent himself at an event he was supposed to attend, and apparently his five-year-old self said 'Sun!'. 

Shaking his thoughts off, Sunwoo stifled down a yawn as he stretched out the school uniform that he went off with Jaehyun yesterday to buy. Thinking of all the clan related information made him grumble in distaste; even if it were to be—or rather, _supposed to be_ —common information that every other person should be familiarised with, Sunwoo found it boring to remember all the tiny bits of information.

 _"The History of the Clans! Many years ago, a person who went by the name of Taeyong had created the idea of clans to separate people in groups of_ blah blah blah." Sunwoo remembered that starting speech so many times as it was always the starting speech of those start of year principle speeches that was said in his school's big assembly hall towards the entire school population; it was as if this entire clan agenda is to be drilled in one's head (which is respectably true, it'd be weird to one not to know what a clan is when everyone is in one; but was it really neccesary for the history of clans too?). 

Sunwoo looked in the mirror, adjusting his school uniform to make it rather neat whilst removing the crinkles in the clothing; it awfully resembled his freshman uniform but except the fact that it was now purple instead of blue. He could've just perhaps dumped a paint bucket of red into his freshman uniform—which was blue—and no one will probably ever notice with the excuse of " _yeah colours fade, man_ ", although blue can't technically fade to purple but no one is there to nitpick. 

"Yah, Sunwoo! Come out soon, I need to drive you to school!" Jaehyun's voice echoed from outside to his room where he loudly replied with an 'okay!' in reply, grabbing his backpack and hurling it on and his phone before shoving it into his pants pocket.

The sunlight almost blinded Sunwoo's eyes as he stepped foot outside of the house; all the curtains in his own room was blackout and the ones in majority of the rooms are closed, although with some light going through as they aren't blackout similar to his own; this had made adjusting to the bright sunlight everyday when stepping outside rather hard to go through each morning. 

Jaehyun's car was parked neatly at where the walkway out to the road ended, with a car door open on the passenger's side, which was unconveniently on the other side that wasn't facing his house, and Jaehyun who peaked over the half-open window. A pair of red-tinted sunglasses laid on the bridge of the older's nose as he gestured in for Sunwoo to enter. The red-tint of the lenses had naturally complimented Jaehyun's blond-dyed hair in a way that Sunwoo rather like.

Complimenting the other on the nice colour choice of the sunglasses and Jaehyun nodding a nod of thankful acknowledgement, Sunwoo shut the cardoor close before the older began to start the engine and drive to Sunwoo's school. There was the occasional red light on the way there until they went up a highway. The window that was open on Jaehyun's side had wind constantly come in, ruffling at their hair. 

Sunwoo ler himself be lost in thought for a few moments before pulling out from it when the car came to a halt and Jaehyun looked over at him. 

Opening the car door, Sunwoo stepped outside to face his school building before putting his lips in a tight smile then closing the car door and walking away with his head down.

"Good luck at school!" Jaehyun yelled from the opened window of the car. From just simply hearing, Sunwoo could almost hear the smirk coming from the other. 

"Yeah! Whatever!" 


End file.
